April 3 – 7, 2013
Each boat has their own way of doing things, their own rules of thumb. One of ours is when a period of strong winds is predicted (like 3 days or more), we try to be in a marina. It can be initially cozy to hunker down in a good anchorage while the wind blows, but it gets old fast. When the winds are strong, we don’t like to venture off the boat because even in a well-protected anchorage the water gets too choppy for a dinghy ride or a swim, and we worry about the possibility of dragging (by us or another boat onto us).
At an anchorage, strong winds require frequent checks outside to note the position of our own boat and surrounding boats, and at worst it might keep us up a lot at night. At a marina it’s something we might notice as we walk to get coffee or do errands, and at worst it might prevent us from using the grill. A marina slip does cost money, but for us the peace of mind is worth the price.
During the windy period in Auckland, we enjoyed several trips to Starbucks, fun restaurants like the Urban Turban (Indian street food), Monsoon Poon (Asian food), and Sal’s New York Pizza (surprisingly authentic), a planetarium show, walking around One Tree Hill, shopping for boat stuff, and exploring new (to us) areas of Auckland.
I think the highlight of this Auckland visit, though, was seeing a performance by the family on Laopiote. (Previous Post). We first saw them on a cold November night in San Pedro, California. It was soon after our final surviving and very old cat had died and we were grieving his loss while starting to completely dismantle our lives so we could move onto the boat and get her ready to cruise. The second time we saw Laopiote perform was on a lovely warm evening in Tahiti (Previous Post). We had come a long way since the first time we saw them, but we were still having adjustment issues with this lifestyle and had serious doubts whether we were up to the rigors of cruising the South Pacific. In other words, we weren’t sure this cruising thing was going to work out in the long run.
Seeing Laopiote perform this third time really brought home how far we’d come. The ache of leaving behind the home we loved had dimmed along with the grief of no longer being pet owners. Our confidence had grown tremendously. We persevered through the sometimes-rough first year and had adjusted to cruising life. We’re as whiney as ever, but we had learned to trust ourselves and our boat. We pretty much knew what we were doing, at least most of the time. We had arrived at a happy point in our lives, and seeing this show again really brought that home.
By the 7th of April, we were excited about heading out again and exploring the south Hauraki Gulf, but we also looked forward to returning to Auckland someday. We love having cities that feel like home to us, and we were happy to add Auckland to our list.
Above is a gallery of photos from the four days we spent in Auckland. Some have appeared in a previous gallery showing Auckland in general, but these are specific to this time. As always, click to enlarge and scroll. –Cyndi
